“La Liga”: Lewandowski’s Hat-Trick Leads Barcelona to Victory Over Alaves
Polish striker Robert Lewandowski continued his impressive form by scoring a hat-trick in Barcelona’s eighth win out of nine matches in La Liga this season, defeating hosts Alaves 3-0 on Sunday.
According to the French Press Agency, after starting the season with six consecutive victories under their new German coach Hansi Flick, Barcelona suffered its first defeat in the last round, losing 2-4 to Osasuna.
However, the Catalan club showed its teeth midweek with a crushing 5-0 victory over Swiss side Young Boys in the Champions League, including a brace from Lewandowski, who secured the eighth win for his team by scoring all three goals in the first half within just 32 minutes.
Lewandowski achieved the fourth-fastest hat-trick in a match for Barcelona in La Liga, following Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o (24 minutes against Almeria in 2008), Justo Tejada (28 minutes against Real Sociedad in 1954), and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (30 minutes against Real Mallorca in 2011), according to Opta statistics.
“Leva” opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a header, after receiving the ball from a free-kick taken by Brazilian Raphinha, who was also involved in the second goal after a quick counter-attack (22), before adding the third in the 32nd minute with a pass from Eric Garcia, raising his tally to 10 goals, leading the league’s scoring chart, and 12 in all competitions.
Barcelona reclaimed the top spot, three points ahead of their rivals Real Madrid, the defending champions, who won 2-0 against Villarreal on Saturday, while Alaves remained at 10 points, suffering their fifth defeat of the season.
